Baseball in the breach: Notes on defection, disaffection and transition in contemporary Cuba

Eastman, Benjamin

doi:10.1080/09523360601045989

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 25 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…As they've attempted to restore for themselves their own sense of certainty, my friends described how they have done so largely by drawing upon the affordances provided by the state, while also going beyond institutional limitations. By repurposing bike chains as belts rather than using them as designated by the transportation revolution, and, especially, by organizing their own social networks and practices-what the literature on Cuba references as a move towards sociolismo and away from socialismo (Brotherton, 2005;Eastman, 2007;Gold, 2014;Wilson, 2014). A sort of "buddy socialism" which is neither new in its appearance across Cuba's history (Brotherton, 2003, p.203-4;Eckstein, 2003, p.21), nor is it necessarily unique to the island with countries such as Russia experiencing a similar phenomenon (Humphrey, 2002;Ledeneva, 2006;Makovicky & Henig, 2017).…”

Section: The Meaning Of Revolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

There Are No Communists in Cuba

Renzo¹

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study explores how Cubans organize their everyday livelihood strategies between the tacit principles of capitalism and socialism. Having conducted four months of ethnographic fieldwork in Cuba, I examine how individuals negotiate the contradictions that unfold within the island's economic system, where competing ideals of free market liberalization and social redistribution collide in discourse and practice. This collision is highlighted through ethnographic vignettes that showcase how Cubans who have grasped the legalized opportunity for self-employment have simultaneously been required to navigate difficult political economic circumstances, as committing oneself to these forms of independent labor also compels them to encounter their own informal ways to make up for systemic deficiencies. Blending semiotics and performativity with a political economic approach, I draw out how Cubans improvise beyond these structural limitations, showing how their performances of 'making do' often involve intermeshing seemingly contradictory socioeconomic dynamics.

show abstract

Section: The Meaning Of Revolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%